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I play with fire.

You play with fire!?

Yeah.

Whatever for?

Cuz I don't like staining Things.

So, this is the second of a set of two. The first was cracked almost as badly as this one. You probably know that cracks in wood are a fair constant in The Dungeon. Most of the time, I go ass-over-teakettle, trying to come up with some eye-catching way to deal with them. Such as, building a design of dowel plugs, or bridging, or filling. Not unusual, for a woodsmith. Sometimes (and this is the case, here), I just decide to let a crack be a crack.
Bowl #1 of the pair, in case you wondered, hasn't made it to the hallowed halls of my Gallery yet. Here's why: I plugged the crack very nicely, if I may say so. I finished the outside, then, hollowed the inside. It was a very nice bowl, indeed. While hollowing, the crack across the bottom became ever more severe. So I took it off the lathe, still in the chuck, and filled the crack with Envirotex Casting Resin, which, by next day, had thoroughly cemented the bowl to the chuck. (You've heard this before, I think. This is what that bowl looks like.



This is what it looked like, after I pried it off the chuck.

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The last photo in the montage is the second bowl. The one that is the subject of the Post. It scratched its head, and I heard a VIMH.

Let the cracks be cracks.

I did.

Now, what was that about "playing with fire?"

I scorched it with a torch, did a little sump'n sump'n to make it a little silvery, applied BLO, shellacked it, and WOPd it. Then, I photographed it. The "Project Thumbnnail" is my ten-thousand-oneth photo with this camera. I shot the first three photos with two lights on. The fourth through sixth are with one light. It's pretty much what it looks like, either way.

About the scratchy texture: It was deliberate. You know those "Sand Masters?" Those things that have a pivoting head for sanding turnings, where the head is spun by the friction of the turning piece? Yeah. I don't have one of those. I do, however, have a random orbit sander, that does almost the same thing. But only on the outside. The scratchy texture is the result of the spinning sandpaper. I let it spin one way on the upper half of the bowl and the other way on the lower half. I liked the way it looked. To me, it sorta created a "brushed metal" kind of an effect. Normally, I'll jump through every hoop I can imagine to get every little scratch and imperfection out of a piece. In this instance, it seemed to contribute to the appearance I was after - Black Chrome.

And now, I have a very shiny thumbnail.

Rubber gloves? I don't need no stinkin' rubber gloves.

Gallery

Comments

· In Loving Memory
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You did well buddy. You don't need supervision.
 

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You are realy special. Incredible stuff!
 

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I like the scorched look!
 

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That is really dark Mark, fits the name you gave it.
 

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Mark, all that scratching on the bowl made me a little itchy, but burning with a torch makes my day. Nicely done.
 

· Premium Member
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Oooo Ahhhhh very nicely done, Mark. Way better than my scorched pine. If you have shared what *************** is, I am sorry I missed it. Please enlighten me? Thanks for sharing.
 

· In Loving Memory
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Nice one Mark, the burning has made it something special.
 

· Premium Member
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I am enlightened. Thank you. :)
 

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Nice!
Did you do anything special to make sure the bark adhered to the wood? I have trouble this the bark breaking off during turning.
 

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Mark, you sure know how to use 'F' wood, fragile that is.
Your work and creativity is boundless!
Look forward for more.

Roman,
The Bootman.
 

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I like your attitude, don't waste anything, creative thinking to turn what other may pass by into something great. All my wood gets used, what I don't use I turn into heat energy. Shavings etc goes to a kennel for bedding for puppies, or mulch.
 

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Beautiful bowl - dare I say it is as pretty as a (grilled) peach. Never had a grilled peach? Try it, you'll like it.

Oh and that Voice In Your Head - is just the spirit of the wood speaking to you - keep listening, it won't lead you wrong.

Thanks for sharing.
 

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quote:
"Normally, I'll jump through every hoop I can imagine to get every little scratch and imperfection out of a piece. In this instance, it seemed to contribute to the appearance I was after - Black Chrome."
unquote

Pssst! Mark … chrome aint s'posed to have no scratches !
.
 

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Lew, this Peach had really sturdy bark to begin with. It has a really thick Cambium layer. And, it's really thick, soft, and powdery. Most of the bark loss on this piece was due to knuckle banging. I lost quite bit, actually. Some, I glued back on. There was a very neat little "hanging rock" in the lowest part of the rim, for instance. I glued that back on twice. Then, it just couldn't take any more while I was cleaning up the inside wall. The third time it came off, it shattered. That said, there are small nuances of tool presentation, along with tool sharpness, that'll keep your bark intact. I smell a lecture coming on. It could just be a gas bubble. Yeah, it is. See? I've just spent so much time trialling and erroring on it, that my best advice is to be bold with your tool presentation/trajectory/movement. Find something that works. What works changes from second to second, and, your ability to alter your motions on the fly must change accordingly. Speaking of accordions: Here's a pleasant little intermission for you.



(Wodsmithery: the sport for the easily-distracted.)
I've grown very fond of my round-nose scrapers, lately. Keep one nice and sharp (with a burr), and they'll cut the bark surface down without lifting it off. If you present it flat on the tool rest, keep the handle up (a low trajectory). If, however, you start feeling the love for the tool, as I have, use a high trajectory (handle low) and, skewing it thus-wise /, ride the bevel. There's no part of that tool that can get under the bark, whereas a roughing gouge or skew chisel have corners that will. A shear scraping action can be achieved, in the same position, by moving in a pushing pull-cut. That is, skewed /, handle-low, staying on the bevel, moving to the right. Geeze, I wish I could straighten out the video problem, so I could show you. This is really hard to 'splain. I'm gonna work on that.
Thanks Roman and Brian.

So many words. I need a nap.
 

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Joe, brushed chrome does.
John, far too esoteric. VIMH is a pest, most of the time.
 

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You have achieved a wonderful rustic looking finish on this one Mark, nicely done mate
Pete
 

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hi mark very interesting peace of work

branch
 

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That bowl you made is very nice. I don't know how you were able to deprogram yourself to leave the scratches on but you did it! It adds to the look, a lot.
 
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